Erica Bailey

When Erica Bailey found out she was going to have a baby, she knew that to provide a better future for her child, she would need an education. “Without a degree I had to take whatever jobs I could get, but I didn’t want to take that gamble as a mom,” said Erica.

Shortly after the birth of her daughter, who is now four, Erica moved to Portland to be near family and began taking classes at PCC. At the time, her interests in nursing and midwifery seemed out of reach because she was unsure about her skills in math and science.

As it turns out, she was quite good at both and even worked as a math tutor while she was still at PCC. Now enrolled at Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing, she will graduate with her bachelor’s degree in May 2011. From there, she plans to continue on to earn a master’s degree. “My whole sense of self has been renewed through this process,” she says.